The Tempest: Shakespeare and YA Literature

Because this is the last week of assigned genre reading, I'm going to take a bit longer for The Tempest. (Also, I have all my midterms this week. Whee!) I've decided that for this play I'm going to focus on how Shakespeare has been adapted for children and young adults. This week, I'll read the original play, and then next week I'll read adaptations and do reviews about each book's effectiveness and appeal.

Here's what I'm planning to read:

Ariel by Grace Tiffany. A novel about Ariel's side of the story.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt. An eighth-grade boy is forced to study Shakespeare with a teacher he hates but learns to appreciate the Bard in the context of his tumultuous friendships, his uneasy family life, and the Vietnam War. I read this book last semester, so I'll review just the parts about The Tempest.

Lizard by Dennis Covington. A young boy runs away from an institution for mentally handicapped boys and at some point is part of a production of The Tempest.









The Tempest (Graphic Shakespeare) by Daniel Connor and Cynthia Martin. A comic-book style version of The Tempest that uses the original words of the play.

I'll also read several picture books that the library has. Since I've been in several classes for children's and adolescent literature, I'm going to enjoy seeing how authors adapt the Bard's work to appeal to a younger audience and make them want to tackle the real deal.